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fionnualalirsdottir's review against another edition
Worth paying attention from the beginning
I meandered my way through the first half of this book without paying much attention to the details but then I realised there was much more to it than I had thought and started it again. The reread was well worth while and I read the second half with much more enjoyment and comprehension, although, in the end, it didn't quite live up to the brilliance announced in the first half.
Like Houellebecq in his most recent book, La Carte et le Territoire, Manguel himself is a key character in All Men are Liars and again like H, he paints himself in fairly pathetic terms. Furthermore, they both refer to real book titles by contemporary authors, even giving these authors minor roles in the action so that the lines between what is truth and what is fiction are very blurred. Interesting.
I meandered my way through the first half of this book without paying much attention to the details but then I realised there was much more to it than I had thought and started it again. The reread was well worth while and I read the second half with much more enjoyment and comprehension, although, in the end, it didn't quite live up to the brilliance announced in the first half.
Like Houellebecq in his most recent book, La Carte et le Territoire, Manguel himself is a key character in All Men are Liars and again like H, he paints himself in fairly pathetic terms. Furthermore, they both refer to real book titles by contemporary authors, even giving these authors minor roles in the action so that the lines between what is truth and what is fiction are very blurred. Interesting.
goblin_novels1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
hannia222's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ameliasbooks's review against another edition
The quality of the writing would have kept me going, but the style chosen to tell this story made it too much of a slog.
dajna's review against another edition
3.0
Si legge in una volta sola, se non dovete subire interruzioni come la sottoscritta.
Al contrario di quanto dice il titolo non ci sono bugiardi, ma solo punti di vista, sogni e ricordi differenti. Il romanzo è diviso in 4 sezioni, con 4 voci narranti, che ci illustrano la vita e la morte del sig. Bevilacqua. L'uomo è un italiano emigrato a Buenos Aires, come tanti. Come tanti incrocia una rivoluzione, la repressione. Come altri si diletta nella scrittura, ma senza successo: il suo unico prodotto di gloria pare essere un'attribuzione indebita, un errore. Bevilacqua prima non ha la forza di chiarire l'equivoco, poi gli manca il tempo: il suo cadavere verrà trovato su un marciapiede di Madrid.
Ma chi è, esattamente, questo signore? Cosa ha fatto prima di arrivare in Spagna? Che lavoro aveva, che persone frequentava? L'amante lo racconta come eroe passionale, il conoscente come persona semplice che si nota poco. La narrazione mi ricorda tanto [b:Sostiene Pereira|562212|Sostiene Pereira|Antonio Tabucchi|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1307272872s/562212.jpg|114009] nello stile del "si dice che", ma la trama deve molto a Pirandello e al classico [b:Uno, nessuno e centomila|20749679|Uno, nessuno e centomila|Luigi Pirandello|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1391814235s/20749679.jpg|40081312], in cui il protagonista continua a cambiare in base alle persone che lo frequentano. Come è possibile che Bevilacqua sia al contempo torturato e torturatore? Chi ha ragione? Chi ha le prove per identificare quel cadavere sul marciapiede? Ma anche: perché e come, su quel marciapiede, c'è finito?
Romanzo interessante, coinvolgente, un giallo inusuale sullo sfondo dell'Argentina dei desaparecidos.
Al contrario di quanto dice il titolo non ci sono bugiardi, ma solo punti di vista, sogni e ricordi differenti. Il romanzo è diviso in 4 sezioni, con 4 voci narranti, che ci illustrano la vita e la morte del sig. Bevilacqua. L'uomo è un italiano emigrato a Buenos Aires, come tanti. Come tanti incrocia una rivoluzione, la repressione. Come altri si diletta nella scrittura, ma senza successo: il suo unico prodotto di gloria pare essere un'attribuzione indebita, un errore. Bevilacqua prima non ha la forza di chiarire l'equivoco, poi gli manca il tempo: il suo cadavere verrà trovato su un marciapiede di Madrid.
Ma chi è, esattamente, questo signore? Cosa ha fatto prima di arrivare in Spagna? Che lavoro aveva, che persone frequentava? L'amante lo racconta come eroe passionale, il conoscente come persona semplice che si nota poco. La narrazione mi ricorda tanto [b:Sostiene Pereira|562212|Sostiene Pereira|Antonio Tabucchi|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1307272872s/562212.jpg|114009] nello stile del "si dice che", ma la trama deve molto a Pirandello e al classico [b:Uno, nessuno e centomila|20749679|Uno, nessuno e centomila|Luigi Pirandello|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1391814235s/20749679.jpg|40081312], in cui il protagonista continua a cambiare in base alle persone che lo frequentano. Come è possibile che Bevilacqua sia al contempo torturato e torturatore? Chi ha ragione? Chi ha le prove per identificare quel cadavere sul marciapiede? Ma anche: perché e come, su quel marciapiede, c'è finito?
Romanzo interessante, coinvolgente, un giallo inusuale sullo sfondo dell'Argentina dei desaparecidos.
hsienhsien27's review against another edition
4.0
It's been a long while since I've read something in its physical form. And honestly, I'm glad I'm back because I miss it a lot. This book came from a Bookoutlet order from over a year ago and it's some of the shortest books that I have in my unread pile. But I kept picking it up and putting it down for some reason. During those times, I guess I just wasn't in the mood for it. This novel is a bit hard to get into, but once you get comfortable with it, you will freaking love it. I took this novel with me during a trip to New York to attend a bridal shower. It was totally worth it, it was hard to let go after twenty pages or so, or maybe because I was just bored of listening to my music.
"It's strange how, during a dictatorship, words become infected by politics, lose their nobility, and start to lie about themselves. The tongue is a sly little muscle, and goes wherever it likes. The nose, on the other hand, is like a loyal dog."
The novel is all about one guy, Alejandro Bevilacqua, he was a South American writer that was found murdered. One of the main characters, Terradillos, I don't remember his first name, interviews some people that happen to know this guy, in order to write an autobiography of the elusive writer. Does this all sound familiar? (Psst, The Savage Detectives)
"I know that we are all fools in love, that we let ourselves create plausible ghosts in place of our loved ones. Or rather, we create a ghost which enters the solid person we see in front of us, inhabiting him, looking back at us from behind his eyes."
That's basically the whole novel. Terradillos interviews some people or reads the letters of other people who knew him. There's also a narrative of somebody who was around during the time of Bevilacque's murder, he was actually the cause of it. But I guess I can rule his death as an accident. I don't really have much to say since lately I have been writing these blog posts a little too late. But Manguel is a fairly popular writer and there is nothing wrong with short reviews, so I guess I can let this one go.
"Those deaths that take place out there in the world, those hundreds of thousands of deaths that swamp us every day - they're insubstantial in their vast anonymity."
All Men Are Liars gets its title from a quote of a psalm, you find out in the first page of the book. The title is quite fitting for the plot. Each part or chapter of the novel is a different perspective and each perspective tells a different story of who Bevilacqua is. And what makes this interesting is that nobody, including the interviewer and the reader, has any evidence of whether or not any of these stories are true. Everybody including the elusive writer is a liar. And that's what's so great about this novel, how it shows that everyone you know has a weird, twisted vision of who you are. How your existence can tell more than one story, hundreds more than you realize.
Rating: 5/5
Originally posted here: http://wordsnotesandfiction.blogspot.com/2015/05/all-men-are-liars-by-alberto-manguel.html
"It's strange how, during a dictatorship, words become infected by politics, lose their nobility, and start to lie about themselves. The tongue is a sly little muscle, and goes wherever it likes. The nose, on the other hand, is like a loyal dog."
The novel is all about one guy, Alejandro Bevilacqua, he was a South American writer that was found murdered. One of the main characters, Terradillos, I don't remember his first name, interviews some people that happen to know this guy, in order to write an autobiography of the elusive writer. Does this all sound familiar? (Psst, The Savage Detectives)
"I know that we are all fools in love, that we let ourselves create plausible ghosts in place of our loved ones. Or rather, we create a ghost which enters the solid person we see in front of us, inhabiting him, looking back at us from behind his eyes."
That's basically the whole novel. Terradillos interviews some people or reads the letters of other people who knew him. There's also a narrative of somebody who was around during the time of Bevilacque's murder, he was actually the cause of it. But I guess I can rule his death as an accident. I don't really have much to say since lately I have been writing these blog posts a little too late. But Manguel is a fairly popular writer and there is nothing wrong with short reviews, so I guess I can let this one go.
"Those deaths that take place out there in the world, those hundreds of thousands of deaths that swamp us every day - they're insubstantial in their vast anonymity."
All Men Are Liars gets its title from a quote of a psalm, you find out in the first page of the book. The title is quite fitting for the plot. Each part or chapter of the novel is a different perspective and each perspective tells a different story of who Bevilacqua is. And what makes this interesting is that nobody, including the interviewer and the reader, has any evidence of whether or not any of these stories are true. Everybody including the elusive writer is a liar. And that's what's so great about this novel, how it shows that everyone you know has a weird, twisted vision of who you are. How your existence can tell more than one story, hundreds more than you realize.
Rating: 5/5
Originally posted here: http://wordsnotesandfiction.blogspot.com/2015/05/all-men-are-liars-by-alberto-manguel.html
trina76's review against another edition
Got 50 pages in and had to stop for now......I do not dislike the book, just was not quite "feeling" this one right now....so I will send this book back to the shelf to try again another day.....does not feel right to give any stars since I have yet to form a true opinion.
mazza57's review against another edition
1.0
I have no idea what this book is about - a lot of it centre around who wrote a particular manuscript and how they came to do so - I could care less. The book lacks structure chapters of 99 pages do not lend themselves to ease of reading. No this one joins the rest of the drivel on that appropriately named shelf
stacialithub's review against another edition
5.0
I selected this book based on the cover art alone. I had no idea what the story was about, nor did I look up any info about it prior to reading. Wow. Loved it. A shifting story with various reliable (or unreliable) narrators, forcing us to think about reality, memory, fiction, & truth. Is there ever really one truth? How can one single truth even exist? Sure, it's a theme that has been covered in many great books through time, but Manguel makes a worthy addition to the pantheon of such works. It's a very readable story with quite a few nuanced layers. Gorgeous.
doma_22's review against another edition
3.0
Scovato per caso, letto con "premura", devo dire che non mi ha convinta del tutto. Una scrittura particolare, mi sembrava un libro diverso dalla veloce lettura della trama.
Alejandro Bevilacqua, nato in Argentina di origine italiana. Questo il protagonista "occulto" perché si parla di lui, non in prima persona dato che è morto anni prima ma ci viene raccontato da chi lo aveva frequentato, che lo aveva conosciuto. Quattro persone diverse che raccontano la storia di quest'uomo secondo i loro occhi, secondo la parte che lui, da vivo, aveva presentato di se.
Non so ben spiegare perché sono perplessa, in verità. Forse mi aspettavo altro, avevo immaginato un giallo, che invece non c'è; forse il periodo "cupo" raccontato, come quello delle repressioni in Argentina e il periodo passato in carcere e le torture raccontate.
La cosa strana che si nota è la visione differente di una stessa persona, ognuno vede ciò che vuole vedere o è portato a farsi un'idea da ciò che gli racconta.
Non so cosa esattamente mi resterà di questa lettura ma vorrei tanto rileggerlo, per dargli una seconda opportunità. FOrse non era il momento giusto. Peccato perché alcune parti sono andate via veloci, coinvolgendomi un po' di più!
Alejandro Bevilacqua, nato in Argentina di origine italiana. Questo il protagonista "occulto" perché si parla di lui, non in prima persona dato che è morto anni prima ma ci viene raccontato da chi lo aveva frequentato, che lo aveva conosciuto. Quattro persone diverse che raccontano la storia di quest'uomo secondo i loro occhi, secondo la parte che lui, da vivo, aveva presentato di se.
Non so ben spiegare perché sono perplessa, in verità. Forse mi aspettavo altro, avevo immaginato un giallo, che invece non c'è; forse il periodo "cupo" raccontato, come quello delle repressioni in Argentina e il periodo passato in carcere e le torture raccontate.
La cosa strana che si nota è la visione differente di una stessa persona, ognuno vede ciò che vuole vedere o è portato a farsi un'idea da ciò che gli racconta.
Non so cosa esattamente mi resterà di questa lettura ma vorrei tanto rileggerlo, per dargli una seconda opportunità. FOrse non era il momento giusto. Peccato perché alcune parti sono andate via veloci, coinvolgendomi un po' di più!